Stephanie Budwey

Luce Dean’s Faculty Fellow Assistant Professor of the History and Practice of Christian Worship and the Arts
Director, Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture

Stephanie A. Budwey is the Luce Dean’s Faculty Fellow Assistant Professor of the History and Practice of Christian Worship and the Arts and Director of the Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture Program. Her teaching and research focus on the relationships between social justice issues, liturgy, and the arts. Before coming to Vanderbilt, she worked on a post-doctoral project at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel in Germany entitled “Letting the Entire Body of Christ Speak: Practical Theological Reflections on Intersex Christian Narratives.” This research is the foundation for her book Religion and Intersex: Perspectives from Science, Law, Culture, and Theology which is published as part of the Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies series.

Originally from Boston, MA, Budwey completed her Th.D. at the Boston University School of Theology in 2012 in liturgical studies and church music. Her dissertation on Marian hymnody was published in 2014 by Liturgical Press as Sing of Mary: Giving Voice to Marian Theology and Devotion. Budwey has presented lectures and papers throughout North America and Europe, and she has articles and book chapters published on such topics as intersex and theology, Marian hymnody, queer hymnody, and Wilgefortis.

A member of the Episcopal Church, she comes to Vanderbilt with many years of practical experience having worked in churches of various denominations and contexts as an organist and choir director. She currently serves as Organist/Parish Musician at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Nashville.